• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Sirius drops WSM

L

livingfruitvirus

I hope no Nashville transplants in other parts of the country are pissed.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio has decided to discontinue broadcasting 650 WSM and the Grand Ole Opry effective September 13, 2006. If you are a SIRIUS Satellite subscriber, please click here to provide us with your contact information so that we may update you on any future developments. We encourage you to communicate directly with SIRIUS regarding their decision, through SIRIUS Customer Care by completing this form or by calling 1-888-539-7474. You may also contact Scott Greenstein, President - Entertainment and Sports for SIRIUS at 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

As a reminder, WSM and the Grand Ole Opry can be heard online at wsmonline.com or opry.com. Our television show, Grand Ole Opry Live, can be seen each week on cable network, GAC: Great American Country and on CMT Canada, while our syndicated radio show, America’s Grand Ole Opry Weekend, is available in over 200 markets across the country.

We appreciate your continued support.
Click to expand...
 
Wow, that's big! I've talked to the Nashville programming guys at Sirius, and they wined about having no budget for anything. I thought this would have been a win win and easy and cheap programming to fill a channel. I also keep hearing rumors that the Opry will be gone in 5 years. This is from the artists themselves.
 
Re: Sirius drops WSM - Can WSM Survive Without It?

I really enjoyed having WSM on Sirius here in Pennsylvania where I used to listen through the static to pick up the AM signal. It wasn't as good the past few months when they just voicetracked the daytime programming for Sirius, but at night with Eddie Stubbs & the Opry it was great for longtime country fans who follow the history of the music to listen to. The Friday Night request show received requests from Sirius listeners all over the country.

The question is, can WSM survive without Sirius? Instead of being a "national" station, it goes back to being a local station plus internet listening which lacks the portability of Sirius. For all the places without a classic country station, it filled the void, with a unique mix of classic and recent country and Opry performance clips from it's unique library, and personalities who know the music and the Music City. How soon until talk of changing the format returns, even though it has been the top rated AM 12+ in the last few books?
 
Re: Sirius drops WSM - Can WSM Survive Without It?

WSM sales had no reliance on Sirius.

It's format future is completely irrelevant from the decision to fall off the dogstar.

Years ago, WSM was available on C-band. When the Nashville Network stopped uplinking WSM, and before WSM signed with Sirius, Lee Abrahms told me he very much wanted XM to carry WSM and the Opry.
 
WSM got some revenue from Sirius, I think. It has no impact on the local ad sales as there were no local spots, no impact on ratings. One of these days, its gonna have to make some money for some owner. Its just a matter of time.
 
WSM got some revenue from Sirius, I think.

What revenue? Martha White biscuits?
 
I heard sirius was paying them about a half mil a year. Couldn't sell enough Goo Goo's I guess. 500 thou would be a hit in anybodys revenue stream.
 
I heard sirius was paying them about a half mil a year..

geez...wait until House hears about that: XM pays WSIX nada
since CC owns some of the channel space on the birds.
 
Yeah, a regular camp follower.

But - I've been a WSM fan for 10 years. Back in the old big dish days, WSM became apart of my life. Out at my house, we get virtually no FM and terrible AM, so WSM was on my home stereo for years while I rebuilt a house on weekends.

When it went off the C-band, I missed the Opry. Dialup streaming was too slow.

Now with highspeed, WSM is back on the presets on my radio, except the radio is ITunes.

WSM is what country radio should be.
 
Absolutely I am pissed...Considering the fact that the reason I chose Sirius over XM was the fact that they had the Opry,also the Roadhouse is a sister station of the Opry with Hairl Hensley as a jock.I am beyond pissed...the night I found out I was physically ill.Only a real Opry fan can understand what its like to hear it every Saturday night.Put together the silly jokes by Jimmy Dickens,the off key singing by Jan Howard and Bill Anderson,and the on stage rhetoric that you could sense over the radio..mix that with comercials for Martha White and The Cracker Barrel announced by the great Eddie Stubbs and you had a show like no other,just writing this my eyes have welled up and the hair on my neck is stiff.After 15 minutes away I return to finish this letter.I can understand if they droped WSM..but why not keep the Opry on the CH 62 on Friday and Saturday night.They told me at Sirius that they need the bandwith for Nascar channels that are coming soon, and the contract was up with Gaylord and no negotiations were even made.Probably some 30 yr old rock fan with no valid interest in the Opry or the history of country music.Luckily I can still hear the Opry on line at wsm.com.I will have to park myself at my desk when I am home,the driving on saturday night will never be the same,this recovery for me will be very tough.Some may say its just a radio show,whats the big deal.Unless you ''GET IT'' you will never undertstand.SO LONG OPRY...YOU WILL BE MISSED....AND ALWAYS LOVED...HERE IN NJ
 
Anyone "travelling" Saturday night has more important tasks at hand then Martha White biscuits.
 
Hate to say it but nobody really listens to the Opry anymore....not even the locals.
 
WSM CUME ON SATURDAY NIGHTS IS STILL PRETTY DECENT....

SO AS FAR AS NOBODY LISTENING I DO NOT AGREE.

OF COURSE YOU PROBABLY WILL ASSERT MOST OF THOSE LISTENING ARE

OLDER DEMOS...YOU KNOW THAT MAY BE TRUE....BUT THAT DEMOGRAPHIC

IS A VERY LOYAL ONE WHEN IT COMES TO BUYING PRODUCTS; PARTICULARLY

CARS; RV'S ; AND TRAVEL PACKAGES....

I'M SURE YE NAYSAYERS WILL HAVE SOME NEGATIVE ABOUT MY OBSERVATIONS.

I AM FROM PA HAVE BEEN IN OWNERSHIP & MANAGEMENT IN BROADCAST

FOR OVER 20 YEARS.....AND WITH THE RIGHT SALES APPROACH AND MARKETING

WSM CAN SURVIVE AND CAN MAKE MONEY. NO NEED TO TRASH A HERITAGE

STATION.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom